Elite field still runs deep

The defending champions aren’t returning, but that won’t leave the elite field short of storylines and possibilities for Sunday’s 30th Bloomsday.

The women’s race boasts a loaded field and the typical Kenyan contingent headlines the men’s race, both on a new Bloomsday course.

According to elite race coordinator Jon Neill, it could be the deepest and fastest women’s race.

“Last year, we had four women under 40 (minutes), which was a pretty swift deal, and 2001 we had our best field, but this may equal that or exceed it,” Neill said.

Isabella Ochichi, a 26-year-old Kenyan, will be one of the women’s favorites. Ochichi earned a silver medal in the 5,000 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics, won the 2006 Crescent City Classic 10K race and set a course record at the Vancouver Sun Run 10K on April 23.

Ochichi ought to be challenged by 27-year-old Australian Benita Johnson, who finished second to Ochichi at the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans, but beat her at the 2006 World Cross Country Championships in the 5K.

They also competed against each other at the Carlsbad 5,000 in California, where Ochichi was second and Johnson fourth.

“Johnson and Ochichi, they’ve squared off against one another three times this year,” Neill said. “If it plays out like it reads on paper, this is going to be a fast one.”

Others to watch include 32-year-old Kathy Butler from Great Britain, who finished second last year, and Dorota Gruca, 35, from Poland, who was third.

Edna Kipligat, a 26-year-old Kenyan, finished fourth at Carlsbad and Crescent City and should compete, and Lyubov Denisova, 35, from Russia, won the 2005 Los Angeles Marathon.

The men’s race returns 2005 second-place finisher Gilbert Okari, a lanky 27-year-old Kenyan who set the 2-mile course record last year before faltering.

Since then, Okari’s been dominant, winning the 2005 Peachtree 10K in Atlanta, the 2006 Cherry Blossom 10-mile race last month in Washington, D.C., and nearly everything else in between.

“It may have just been Bloomsday that got the fire in his belly,” Neill said. “Because he has been on a tear, and his only second place this spring was the World’s Best 10K, which is another pretty darn good field. But this Bloomsday field might be the best that he’s squared off against.”

That field includes 24-year-old Julius Kibet, who finished third last year; 20-year-old Ernest Meli Kimeli, who finished fourth; and 29-year-old Samuel Ndereba, who finished 9 second behind Okari at the 2006 Cherry Blossom.

In the men’s wheelchair division, Saul Mendoza, 39, will look for his ninth consecutive win, which would break the record he shares with Craig Blanchette. Three other top-five finishers from last year return: Alfonso Zaragoza, Ferris graduate Tyler Byers and Austin Snyder.

On the women’s side, 20-year-old Shirley Reilly will attempt to repeat as champion, with Jennifer Goeckel, a two-time third-place finisher, and 14-year-old Susannah Scaroni of Tekoa, Wash., who finished fourth last year, as top competition.